The agricultural sector in Eswatini is viewed as an engine to foster economic growth, reduce poverty and eradicate inequality. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of monetary policy on the agriculture Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Eswatini using annual data for the period starting from 1980 to 2016. Using the Vector Error Correction model (VEC), the empirical results indicated that in the long run, agriculture GDP, exchange rate, interest rate, inflation, broad money supply, and agriculture credit have a negative effect on agriculture GDP in Eswatini. In the short run the study indicated that the variation in agriculture GDP is largely significant caused by the lagged agricultural GDP, interest rate, exchange rate as well as inflation. Money supply and agriculture credit contribute 0.46% and 0.55%, respectively to the variation in agricultural GDP. The study recommends that programs aimed at availing affordable credit to farmers should be prioritized to cushion the agriculture sector against adverse monetary policy shocks in the short to medium term, specifically interest rates, to ensure continuous production.

Traditional (indigenous) vegetables of the Kingdom of Eswatini are important for their contribution to human nutrition. They are major sources of vitamins and minerals. They provide fibre which is required for the proper functioning of the human digestive system. Traditional vegetables are important economically however, no assessments have been done in the Kingdom of Eswatini to measure their contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP). A traditional vegetable concern provides employment and thus income, and ensuring food and nutritional security, and hence striving to attain sustainable development goals (SDGs) pertaining to human health, nutrition, food security and biodiversity. Traditional vegetables are infested relatively less by insect pests and diseases. They relatively out compete weeds in terms of resources essential for growth and development. In food, traditional vegetables provide interesting colour, texture and variety. Despite the immense importance of traditional vegetables, they have been neglected and regarded as poor man's food with no research prioritisation. The objective of this study was to explore their present status, prioritize consumer education, explore their importance as climate smart vegetables and to document their contribution to biodiversity.

This study examined the influence of investment climate on technical efficiencies of industries in Nigeria. The study was conducted in two phases namely (i) an estimation of the technical efficiency (TE) was carried out and, (ii) differences in TE across firms were statistically related to indicators of investment climate and firm-level characteristics. The analyses made use of 2009 World Bank Enterprise survey data on Nigeria. The results showed that food industry was more labour intensive and less efficient than other industries in Nigeria. The importance of scale, export and firm ownership was evident from the significance of the variables in all the industries. The results point to the fact that firms in Nigeria can improve their productivity by learning from customers and by facing international competition. Investment climate difficulties had less effect on food industries than others.  The sector could be a good starting point in the nation’s industrialization policy drive if available resources can be utilized optimally.

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Food security and job creation are among the top priorities of the government of Eswatini. To address these priorities, the government have made substantial amount of investment to support the agricultural sector over the years. Regardless of these policy intervention, Eswatini is still an importer of food and unemployment remains substantial high. The study examined the influence of investment climate on productivity of food and beverages industries in Eswatini. Findings of this study will assist the government of Eswatini to design focused policy interventions in order to attract more local and foreign direct investment.A Cobb-Douglas production function for Eswatini of manufacturing industries was estimated using 2006 cross sectional data from the World Bank to produce a measure of TFP for each industry. In addition, an extended Cobb-Douglas production function was estimated with investment climate variables for selected manufacturing industries.The results showed that manufacturing industries in Eswatini are labour intensive and competition from informal sectors is the main obstacle faced by manufacturing industries in Eswatini. The findings of the study further reveals that an increase in corruption  cause a decrease in productivity. The study recommends investment in institutional reforms especially to fight against corruption and efficacy in the provision of public goods and services. It further recommends a resilient support and regulation of the informal sector.